Broncos warned against half measures in Hunt replacement

RUGBY LEAGUE: Retired Broncos skipper Corey Parker has urged the club to spend big on a long term halves replacement for Ben Hunt to keep the premiership window open at Red Hill.

With a smorgasbord of Brisbane's best and brightest off-contract at the end of the season, Parker says the club's success on both the retention and recruitment fronts - particularly for a star halfback beyond 2017 - will decide if and when the club ends the longest title drought in its history.

The Broncos currently have 12 of their top 17 - or roughly $6 million of premium talent - on the open market, and their former leader admits more big names could exit yet.

Hunt is the first casualty of the club's salary cap squeeze after a five-year, $6.2 million offer from the Dragons, starting in 2018, proved simply too good to refuse.

The Broncos have tabled a three-year extension worth around $3 million to priority signing Anthony Milford, while Darius Boyd, Adam Blair, Andrew McCullough and Jordan Kahu also rank high on Brisbane's retention list.

But while veteran Benji Marshall has moved north and Kodi Nikorima headlines the next generation of halves at the club, Parker says Wayne Bennett must look elsewhere for Milford's new scrum base partner.

"At this stage I think they have to go to market,” Parker told foxsports.com.au.

"There's some quality young players within the system of the club. But in terms of them being an NRL No. 7, you've probably got to invest a couple more years into them.

"If you're prepared to do that there's certainly some players that are worth that, or you go to market in the meantime.

"But again the tricky one there is if you're going to the market you obviously want a No. 7 you want there for a while.

"You don't want to be changing your plans all the time. You want them for four years, three years, five years or whatever.

"You want a No. 7 for the long term, not to plug a hole for a year or two because that just keeps disrupting you.”

At 31 and on an NRL lifeline, Marshall fits that bill. Fellow Broncos great Justin Hodges also recently declared Nikorima not yet ready for the pressure that comes with guiding the one-town team around the park.

There is however a number of quality halves in their early to mid-20s on the market.